Asia Argento Threatens to Sue Rose McGowan for Libel Over Sexual Assault Statement

Asia Argento has threatened to sue Rose McGowan for libel over a statement that McGowan made about [...]

By Stephen Andrew

Asia Argento has threatened to sue Rose McGowan for libel over a statement that McGowan made about the sexual assault allegations against Argento.

"Dear [Rose McGowan]. It is with genuine regret that I am giving you 24 hours to retract and apologise for the horrendous lies made against me in your statement of August 27th," Argento tweeted on Monday.

"If you fail to address this libel I will have no option other than to take immediate legal action," she added.

The "statement" that Argento is referring to — according to The Blast — appears to be one in which McGowan claimed to have first-hand knowledge that Argento did in fact have a relationship with a young actor named Jimmy Bennett, even though the actress had denied the claims.

"I received a phone call and series of messages from the being I've been dating- Rain Dove," McGowan stated. "They said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy Bennett."

"Rain also shared that Asia had stated that she'd been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12. Asia mentioned in these texts that she didn't take any action on those images," she continued. "No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmy's social media."

She concluded her statement by challenging Argento to "be the person you wish Harvey could have been," a reference to the fact that both women famously accused disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and rape.

The current controversy began back in August when it was reported that Argento paid Bennett a $380,000 settlement in response to a lawsuit related to the sexual assault claims in which Bennett alleged that she had a sexual relationship with him while he was a minor.

Argento denied the allegations, saying that "never had any sexual relationship with Bennett," and that she was "deeply shocked" by the "absolutely false" reports.

However, text messages and photos of the two together emerged following Argento's denial, which seemed to serve as evidence that the two did have a relationship.

Bennett also released a public statement in which he spoke about the situation but did not name Argento directly, rather he referred to her as "the person who wronged me."

At this time, McGowan does not appear to have publicly responded to Argento's legal threat.

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